Day 283, late night. Victoria lay on her bed, one arm beneath her head,. She was satisfied. Not happy, not relaxed—just satisfied. It had been a day. She picked up her satellite phone, and called her friend, Erdmann. She's been doing that more often lately. Almost every night.

There weren't many people left you could talk to. Not many friends. Real friends. But Erdmann? Erdmann was safe. One that she trusted.

When he picked up, they didn't rush into conversation. It always started slow, like a warm-up jog in the cold. They shared what they'd done, what they'd seen, as if they weren't living through something horrifying.

Victoria told him about her work, about Lili, about the room she found.

The Serenity Chamber. Apparently, that's it's called. A sort of psychological airlock. A break room. Meant to remind workers what life used to be like. So they keep working.

"Let me guess." Erdmann said, "sunlight, nature sounds, maybe some cows?"

"Pretty much. It's all fake. But it's nice. I liked it."

And then Erdmann spoke.

He told her what they found today—what he did today. And it turns out, this time they spent a lot longer than usual searching for the body. Long enough that they wondered if the killer had skipped a day. Taken a break. Called in sick.

But no. The body was there. Just… hidden. Tucked somewhere they didn't expect. And where do they find it, you ask?

The freezer.

Buried behind boxes of ice and fish. What kind? The exact kind of fish Lili had taken off the shelf earlier that day.

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